Candle in the Dark
by GreenMartini
Summary: To hell with my pride, let it fall like rain, from my eyes...tonight I wanna cry...


A/N: Okay peeps here's the deal, this is my new one-shot. I can't give you a pairing because there isn't one to give. This is strictly Draco learning a lesson. It's a very unorthodox way of learning, but it works. Uh, warnings, don't try this at home, it's a pretty dark deed when a simple talk would be so much better. Also, this is my either Harry Potter story and I'm sure by now you've all realized that I do not own Harry Potter or any of the awesome characters I make do stupid things . Also, I do not own the lyrics which were used in the summary, they are Keith Urban's from his wonderful song "Tonight I Wanna Cry"... Without a further wait I give you "Candle in the Dark".

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**"Candle in the Dark"**

"Nox," a male's voice quietly whispered from a small alcove. The momentary sound was then carried away into the darkness. His left arm lowered, bringing his wand back to his side just as a dark figure sauntered around the corner. The minutes passed by as the figure stood in the intersection of the corridor, as if if could sense the boy's presence in the midnight shadows. The young man tried his hardest to keep his breathing calm; the last thing he wanted was to be found out before he had time to carry out his master plans of the night. The boy in the alcove put his wand in his pocket and put a hand over his hammering heart. He had all the patience in the world, never getting bored or frustrated easily, but keeping his nerves in check was something that he really needed to work on.

The boy pushed himself further into the rough stone of the concrete wall as the dark figure started to make its way down the hallway. He held his breath for a few moments, after the figure rounded around the next corner, as if he half-expected the figure to come back for one last check on the corridor. With a quick glance to his left and right, the boy seemed satisfied that he was in fact alone in the corridor and cautiously strode to the simple wooden door and opened it. The boy cringed slightly as the rusty hinges gave off a shrill protest of being moved, but they would have to live with it because what he needed was on the other side.

The door shut more quietly than it was while it was being opened, and the boy rested against the back of it as he studied the room before him. The first thing that his hazel eyes found ere the sources of light scattered about the room; five candles that were placed on random desks about the room. The largest of the candles was placed on the teachers desk at the head of the room.

The room obviously was not chosen because it was spacious. The small number of desks suggested that the class was not meant to be a large group, but rather a smaller number of select students. Once the boy's eyes adjusted to the dim candlelight, his eyes became focused to center stage. The irony of what room they were in was not lost upon the boy sitting on the hard wooden desk. A quick glance around the room would be enough to alert any wizard with half a brain that the contraptions that lined the walls were in fact Muggle-made.

"The Muggle-Studies classroom of all places, Boot?" came the lazy drawl from the boy sitting on the desk.

"Yes, Draco, I chose to surround you with _Muggle_ objects, just out of spite," replied the boy from the doorway.

"I supposed that you dyed your hair that color just to brag about your House too," the blond Slytherin commented.

"Partially," the boy answered calmly. "I did it this summer, because, unlike you Draco, I did not live up to my family's expectations," he said as he walked over to where Draco sat, one leg bound to the desk to prevent his escape. "I, like you, was expected to be in Slytherin, just as the generations before me were. However, fate was against me and I took after the one Muggleborn relation in my family who was in Ravenclaw here at Hogwarts. Needless to say, my father was not pleased, but surprisingly he refused to degrade me for it because of my mother's overbearing need to protect her only son," the boy called 'Boot' cocked his head in a wide grin before it turned back to his usual contemplating look.

"That still doesn't explain why your hair is blue," Draco persisted, though in a bored tone.

"Oh, it's purely because of that reason. My dad resents that I'm in Ravenclaw so since my first year, everything that I buy is blue, and he really ticked me off this summer so I dyed my hair blue," Boot said as if it were an every day occurrence.

"Your weird tendencies aside, care to explain why it is that you have led me here only to tie me to the desk?" Draco asked with curiosity laced in his inquiry.

"You...you confuse me, Draco Malfoy," Boot started, the far away tone he was using kept Draco silent. "I watch people al the time. Most people get creeped out by it, but they shouldn't. No, there's nothing frightening about it. I...I feel the need to know those around me, and I can't do that by talking to them. I am not a conversationalist, no matter how many people believe me to be one. I will _never_ be the one to start the conversation, as I have proven to you full well tonight. I brought you here, tied you down and left without saying a word to you. Then when I returned I only spoke to you after you questioned me. It's beyond pathetic. It's nothing but cowardice, good old-fashioned _cowardice_! Do you have any idea what it's like to be socially afraid, _Malfoy_?" Terry spat maliciously toward the apprehensive blond. "Of course you don't," Terry answered smugly for him. "Lucius Malfoy's son wouldn't dare admit to a social weakness. You…I…ugg!" Terry let out a frustrated groan and began agitatedly pacing in front of Draco. "Why can't I just figure you out?! No one person should be this damn stressing!" Terry said, picking up a spare book from a shelf and flung it across the room with a force and accuracy worthy of a chaser. The book swiftly hit against the wall and landed on the floor with a dull thud. The force of the wind made from the book's travel was enough to upset one of the candles and it fell just as the book had, catching the aging pages aflame. Not bothering to put out the small fire, Terry resumed his pacing, sending Draco confused glares occasionally.

After several minutes of this, Terry stopped in front of Draco. Looking the blond in the eye he quickly said, "Bloody Gryffindor," before resuming his pacing.

"Pardon?" Draco asked disbelievingly as if he had heard Terry wrong.

"I called you a Gryffindor," Terry said, only pausing momentarily to look Draco top to bottom and back up to those studious grey eyes.

"Why?" Draco asked in a whisper; the Ravenclaw's changing moods confusing him as much as he apparently confused the other boy.

Quickly growing tired of his own pacing, Terry strode to the back of the room and slid himself into one of the desks. For a moment he sat regarding Draco in the candlelight as one would a professor. "Because you are one," he stated simply as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Folding his arms on the desk in front of him, Terry gently lay down his head on top of them, his gaze fixed on the wall where the book had hit earlier. "You possess more qualities of a Gryffindor than you do a Slytherin. I don't get what's so amusing, I'm being completely serious," Terry added at Draco's amused expression. "You're bold, picking fights the way you do shows that. The Gryffindor courage is shown when you stand up for yourself and your family. Chivalry, ah, that one's just a little harder to pick out of your character traits, but it's there I can assure you. You would be so willing to help people if you would just let go of your damned pride."

At those words, Terry's head shot up from the desk, his first true smile of the night on his face. Crawling up onto the desk, he sat on his knees, cocking his head to the left, his unwavering gaze on Draco. "Pride…" was the only thing he said before his eyes closed and he let out a happy sigh.

"Pride…?" Draco asked shaking his head at the emotionally confused boy in front of him.

Slowly, Terry opened his eyes and gave a brief nod. "Pride," the blue-haired boy confirmed in a hazy tone. To add to his dream-like state, Terry's head fell forward to his chest, never once breaking his half-lidded staring contest with the blonde, before he promptly rolled forward to land on his back staring up at the ceiling. "Did you know that your whole pride issue is why you confuse me?" Shifting his body weight backward and then forward, Terry rolled himself into a sitting position. Looking up at Draco, waiting for the response to his question, Terry bobbed his head and lip sung to a song playing in his head.

"I don't know anything about why I'm here," Draco replied irritatedly, obviously wanted answers.

"It's definitely your pride. You have no idea how much this thing ticks me off, Draco. You have such an ego on you, it's just absolutely astounding," Terry said, the seriousness coming back to his tone. "You always seem so confident, but you're really not, the little things give you away. When you think no one's looking, your guard falls and you look confused as to what you're supposed to do. You only start fights with people because your father told you not to like them, or gave you a stupid reason to judge a group of people before you give them a chance. Early mornings in the Great Hall have you staring mournfully at your food, as if considering the fact that if you just stop eating, eventually all your problems will come to an end, because you're afraid to ask for help or get an opinion on something that's bothering you. Pride is the one thing that stops most people from asking for help, and boy do you need help. You want to lead your own life, I know, everyone our age does, but sadly, you can't, can you? Your dad controls everything, and I mean _everything_ in your life: your friends, money, acquaintances, you name it he rules over it. The result of his controlling demeanor is your dependency upon having someone to lead you. Tell me Draco, do you enjoy submitting to another's will?" Terry stood up from the floor and drew his upper lip in between his teeth and he interrogated the shocked blonde with a raised eyebrow.

The blond did not seem to know how to answer that particular question. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, nothing coming out, save for the breath Draco had been holding. He looked up at Terry, confusion written all over his face as he silently pleading the hazel-eyed boy to continue.

"I want to watch you submit your control over a given situation. Seeing glimpses of it is not enough to satisfy anymore," Terry reached into the fold of his robe and pulled out his wand, slowly circling around Draco, taking in every inch of him. Terry noticed, with a hint of satisfaction, that as he studied Draco the boy shivered slightly, in fear or anticipation the Ravenclaw was not quite sure. Draco's shoulders visibly tensed when Terry stuck the tip of his wand at the center of Draco's chest. Muttering a quick spell, Draco's shirt disappeared, leaving the blond exposed from the waist up. Running his fingertips lightly up Draco's arm and neck, Terry took note that Draco's eyes never left his own. Cupping the Slytherin's jaw lightly in his hand he leaned close and whispered, "Keep facing forward," before letting go of the blond and walking off behind him.

Once Terry passed the back of the desk that Draco was sitting on, he turned to walk blindly backward, keeping his eye on Draco to make sure that he did as he was told. Picking up one of the pieces that were being used as a light source, Terry walked back over to Draco, keeping the object behind the blond so that he could see only Terry for the time being. A small smile crept onto his face as he watch Draco's inner turmoil show itself through in the grey eyes of the bound Slytherin. Draco obviously did not like to submit, but he also seemed to not want to speak out because of the fear of making Terry angry to the point where the Ravenclaw may do something rash. "Lean forward a little bit, ah, no, eyes on me," Terry said quietly and the blond did as he was told. "I can assure you, Draco, I'm going to nothing to mortally wound you; this'll just sting a little." With that said, Terry picked up the object he stuck behind Draco and held it over the blonde's hunched back, tipping it on an angle.

Terry cocked his head to the side when Draco gave off a sharp hiss and shut his eyes as the hot wax cooled on his pale flesh. "Is this anything like what daddy makes you go through, Draco?" The blond shook his head. "It's still painful though, isn't it?" Terry asked him in an almost caring voice before he moved the candle to a different spot and let more wax drip off it as it burned. After his body tensed and relaxed, Draco nodded. "If you figure out how to stop this, let me know," Terry said in the same quiet voice before he dropped wax onto Draco's left and right shoulder consecutively. He looked up to see tears welling up in the blonde's eyes, he knew it was paining Draco to have to do this, but Terry was not stopping until he got his point across. Bringing his hand up, he cupped Draco's face again and whispered, "Lay back," before setting the candle down beside Draco and walking away again.

Terry walked at a slower pace to the teacher's desk then he normally would have, but there was something about seeing someone unwillingly yielding all of their trust to you that made the Ravenclaw regret all the things he had done and said this night. Grabbing the larger candle off the desk, he walked at that same pace back to where Draco was laying on the desk. He could tell before he reached Draco that the blonde was scared beyond comprehension. Though the tears had not yet spilled over, the sharp jaw trembled lightly with fear and anticipation. "Ready?" Terry asked, and before the question could be answered, Terry tipped the jar. What was special about this candle was that it was in a jar, and as the wax melted, it created a pool at the base of the wick. If done right, there was enough wax to make it up and down Draco's torso and back up again. Starting at the jittery blonde's shoulder, Terry started letting the wax drip in a ragged line on Draco's now overly-sensitive skin. When he reached Draco's navel on the trip down, he heard Draco's shaky voice say, "S-stop." Terry gave Draco a wide grin before dropping the candle on the floor beside himself, taking joy in hearing the glass shatter on the concrete. "You finally figured it out. Let go of your pride, Draco, just say no."


End file.
